I Want You to Want Me
by AtLoLevad
Summary: A patient brings back Jo's past in a shocking way. How will Jo deal with this new information and how will Alex support his girlfriend?
1. Chapter 1

Jo was so ready to go home and curl up under her blanket and sleep for like a week.

And maybe get some Pepto for the stomachaches and nausea that had been bugging her all day.

But then the pager clipped to the waistband of her scrubs vibrated. She checked the display and saw the shorthand code for "ortho patient in room 610"

"Duty calls," she muttered, sliding the clipboard she was holding into the pocket outside the door and heading off down the hallway.

She met Callie outside of room 610.

"Something fun I hope?" Jo grinned, her eyes twinkling with the excitement that had been present ever since Callie had claimed the young doctor as her ortho protégé.

Callie nodded, "Oh yeah. Woman broke her hip and arm falling from the roof."

Jo winced, "Ouch. What was she doing up there?"

"Putting up Christmas lights," Callie grinned, "I love the holiday season."

Jo laughed; her mentor had an almost psychotic glee when it came to broken limbs. It was nice to find a specialty where she felt the same way as her superior.

"Did she get her basic info down?" Jo asked, picking up the clipboard that was in the plastic pocket next to the door.

"Nope," Callie replied, "That's on you. I've got a bone graft in ten. Find me when you're done here."

Callie patted Jo on the shoulder and headed off towards her OR.

Jo flicked through the admission forms and entered the room, "Hi, Ms. Monroe. I'm Dr. Wilson. I'll be taking care of you."

She came to a stop in front of the bed and looked at her patient for the first time.

Elizabeth Monroe was 44 according to her paperwork, but looked younger. Jo noticed a few centimeters of root growth that told her fake blonde used to be natural brunette at one point.

"Oh thank god," Elizabeth Monroe sighed, "Think I can get some morphine or something? My hip's killing me."

Jo laughed, "Well, a broken hip will do that. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes and huffed out an embarrassed breath, "You can't judge me. My husband is away on a business trip for the next week or so and we usually put up the Christmas lights around now. I didn't want to wait for him, so I climbed up. I didn't anticipate the stray baseball that my son had lost weeks ago."

Jo winced in sympathy, "If it makes you feel any better, you won't be the last patient we see with injuries from falling off the roof."

"Thanks," the older woman laughed, but it trailed off as she actually looked at Jo.

For her part, the young attending touched at her cheek, "Do I have powdered sugar on my face? I had a doughnut, and I thought I got it all-"

"No, no," Elizabeth waved her good hand a little, "You're fine. Sorry. It's just your eyes look very much like someone I used to know."

"Oh," Jo wasn't sure what to say in response, so she held out her clipboard, "I'm going to need you to fill this out. I can call a nurse in if you need help."

"Would you?" Elizabeth sighed, "I'm left-handed and. well."

Off of a laugh, Jo nodded, "She'll be right in."

* * *

Jo returned to the room an hour later, hoping the paperwork would be done.

"Ms. Monroe?" She stuck her head in the room, "Everything okay?"

Elizabeth nodded, "The forms are all filled out."

"Great," Jo said, picking up the forms and giving them a cursory glance.

"So you're probably aware that there's going to be some major surgery," Jo spoke sympathetically, "The cursory X-rays showed that your arm is broken in three places and the ball and socket joint in your hip is practically shattered. We're going to have to replace it."

Elizabeth groaned, "There goes my holiday plans. My grandmother had hip surgery when I was a teenager and i remember that it took forever for her to heal. And she always walked with a limp."

"Good news for you is that you're young," Jo smiled, "Recoup time shouldn't be too long and with some PT you won't have a limp."

Two young adults ran into the room suddenly.

"Mom!" The girl exclaimed, "Are you okay?"

Both she and the boy looked worried and frightened. Jo stepped off to the side slightly so the kids could be near their mom. Truth be told, she always felt vaguely uncomfortable when she was around kids and their moms.

"I'm fine, Lyla. Mostly," Elizabeth laughed wryly, "I do need surgery. But I'll be perfectly fine, right Dr. Wilson?"

Jo looked up as she was addressed and nodded quickly, "Oh yeah. Your mom will be completely fine. Dr. Torres and I do these kids of surgeries all the time."

The girl, who, Jo noticed, wore a scowl she sometimes recognized in the mirror, said, "I can't believe you fell from the roof. And I can't believe we had to find out from Mrs. Cohan next door!"

The boy bobbled his head in agreement, "Yeah, ma. Not cool."

"What's 'not cool'," Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Is the fact that I slipped on *your* baseball, Andrew."

Jo watched with amusement as Andrew's ears went red and she shuffled his feet as he muttered a half hearted 'sorry, ma.'

"I'm going to go consult with Dr. Torres and I'll be back," Jo said, "Hopefully we can schedule you for surgery this afternoon."

With a small wave, she left the room, the sounds of bickering siblings growing faint.

* * *

Jo stood in the gallery of Callie's OR.

"Can we fit her in today?" She asked, holding down on the intercom button.

Callie's voice was muffled by the facemask, "Yeah, I think so. Let me see how much longer this is going to take and then we'll go from there."

"Okay," Jo replied, "Her kids are there, but I don't know if the husband knows."

"Find out and have someone call him," Callie paused and accepted a scalpel.

She was quiet for so long Jo was startled when she spoke again, "What's her blood type?"

Jo consulted the chart in her hands, "O neg."

Something nagged at the back of her mind, but Jo ignored it.

"Damn," Callie cursed, "We're gonna have to stock up. See if the kids are a match and if they're willing to donate a bit."

Jo nodded, "I'll give her something for the pain while we wait."

Callie shot her a thumbs up and Jo left the gallery, already mentally planning the things she needed to do.

* * *

"Okay, so we're going to try and do the surgery today," Jo said, walking back into Elizabeth Monroe's room.

"But," the patient sighed wearily, her face creased in pain.

"But you have a rare blood type and we want to make sure we have enough on hand," Jo said leaning casually against the wall, "Are your kids the same type?"

Elizabeth looked over at her son and daughter and shook her head, "No, neither one of them is the same type as me."

Jo nodded, "I completely understand. O neg is rare. That's why the hospital is constantly begging me to donate. Do you have a sibling or cousin in town?"

"Aunt Casey and Jenny are in town," Andrew said quietly.

Elizabeth nodded, "I can call my sister and my cousin. They're here for the weekend anyway."

"Great. Would you mind calling them now? We have to run their blood to make sure they're healthy enough to donate," Jo laughed, not unkindly, and flipped through her chart. She thought she had seen something about a third child and kids were usually better matches for parents.

"What about your third child?" She asked, not noticing the way Elizabeth's face went white or the fact that both her kids frowned deeply, "Would they be a match and can we get them here?"

"What are you talking about?" The daughter snapped, "My mom only has two kids."

Jo, flustered, flipped through the chart, "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. I thought- the chart says- three pregnancies. I assumed - "

She looked at the top form again and it clearly said 3 pregnancies. She scanned her eyes over to the box that told her how many survived. Three again.

Jo frowned and caught Elizabeth's eye. The older woman looked skittish and scared.

"Mom?" Lyla implored, "Tell her she made a mistake."

Elizabeth sighed, "I did have a third baby - a girl."

Lyla and Andrew gasped and Jo wanted to be anywhere but here in the middle of this family drama.

"I was 16 and my parents didn't know until I was in labor," she breathed, "I...gave her up."

Jo felt her stomach turn. Why, she didn't know, but something was definitely in motion here.

"I can -" Jo started to say, but her voice was lost in the din. Instead she pressed her back against the wall and studied the clipboard in her hands.

"Mom, this is insane!" Lyla snapped, her eyes flashing, "How could we not know?"

"Because I didn't want you to know," Elizabeth snapped back, wincing in pain.

"Does dad know?" Andrew piped up for the first time since the reveal.

Elizabeth nodded slowly, "I told him a long time ago."

Lyla crossed her arms, "I can't believe this."

She stormed out of the room, boot heels clicking angrily against the linoleum.

"Andrew, baby," Elizabeth reached out for her son's hand. He shied away at first, but eventually relented and let her hold on.

"I'm sorry you found out this way," she sighed, "I was young and stupid and I couldn't care for a baby."

Jo quietly snuck out of the room, not wanting to intrude on anymore of the family's personal matters.

* * *

She checked on Callie, hoping to update her on Elizabeth's status, but the older woman was still in the OR dealing with a bone graft gone wrong.

After checking in on a few more patients, Jo wandered around looking for something to eat. She needed pretzels or something salty, badly.

Finding a stray bag in the attending's lounge, Jo made a mental note to get her blood tested to see why she was craving so much salt.

"Hey, Karev!" Jo called out, recognizing her boyfriend's scrub cap.

Alex spun and a grin formed on his face when he caught sight of Jo.

"Hey," he greeted her with a kiss and snagged a pretzel, "You've been busy. Haven't seen you all day."

Jo rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you wouldn't believe the case that I have."

"Something fun?" Alex asked, loping his arm around her shoulders and walking down the hallway.

"Well, my patient fell off the roof trying to put up Christmas lights," Jo started, shielding her bag of pretzels from Alex with her body.

"Child's play," Alex scoffed, "We get a couple dozen of those as soon as Thanksgiving is over."

Jo continued, "She broke her arm and shattered her hip."

"Again," Alex flapped a hand in the air, "You and Torres can have that fixed in no time."

With a swat at his chest, Jo grinned, "And the mom just told her kids about a mysterious third kid she gave up for adoption."

Now Alex nodded appreciatively, "Family drama. Always a good one. Not like we have enough of our own around this place."

"The daughter stormed off," Jo frowned a little, "I really hope it didn't just cause something that can't be fixed."

Alex hugged her close, "They'll be fine. You focus on the physical fixing."

His pager buzzed and Alex frowned down at it, "Shit. It gotta go."

He kissed Jo quickly and ran off towards Peds.

And just as quickly as Alex disappeared, Stephanie appeared.

"Hey, do you have tampon?" She asked urgently, "I used my last emergency one."

Jo did a quick double take, "Huh? Tampon? No, I don't actually."

Steph frowned, "Ugh, who'll have one?"

Jo shook her head, "No idea? Not Kepner, no use for them when you're five months pregnant. Check the clinic. They might -" Jo suddenly felt a wave of nausea and clamped her hand over her mouth as she ran to the nearest garbage can. Her snack of pretzels made a swift reappearance.

"Whoa," Steph said, holding Jo's hair back, "You okay?"

Jo groaned, "I've been nauseous for weeks."

She wiped her mouth with the back her hand and as a thought clicked into place, Jo's eyes went wide.

"Oh no," she mumbled, "Oh nonono."

Jo grabbed Steph's hand and yanked her into the nearest room.

"Okay," Steph said, confused, "Are you gonna tell me what's going on?"

Jo's hands felt clammy, "I'm going to need you to draw my blood. I might be pregnant."

* * *

"Okay," Jo said, walking back into Elizabeth's room, trying to ignore the tube of blood in her lab coat pocket. Steph was right behind her.

"I brought Dr. Edwards with me so we could take your sister and cousin's blood at the same time and get this rushed," she said, nodding a greeting to the two other women that had come to the hospital in the last ten minutes.

She and Steph busied around drawing a few vials of blood from each woman, labeling them for the lab.

"I'm going to put these on a rush," Jo explained after Stephanie left, "And hopefully we'll know if either one of them is a good donor."

Elizabeth's sister, Casey, if Jo was remembering right, was gripping her sister's hand tightly, "She'll be okay, right?"

Jo nodded, "Of course. It really is very routine. I'm going to give you a little bit more morphine while we wait."

Elizabeth nodded tiredly and Jo wondered briefly if her daughter had come back. Andrew, noticeably, was missing.

Jo held tightly to the vials of blood, wanting to apologise to the woman for outing a secret she clearly had intended to keep. She felt a great deal of sympathy towards the woman and a strange desire to hug her.

Instead she offered up a small, hopefully reassuring smile, and dashed off for the lab.

* * *

She cut in front of half a dozen people waiting on line, quieting their complaints with a quick snap of, "This is for Dr. Torres so if you have a problem, take it up with her."

Callie frightened quite a few of the interns and residents, rightfully so, and none of them wanted to get on her bad side.

Jo leaned against the counter and laid the three vials of blood out.

"Hey," she smiled at the lab tech, "I'm going to need this stuff on a kind of rush? Can you check these two for O neg blood type and if they're healthy enough to donate?"

The tech, Ryan, nodded and began scribbling on the forms, "And that one?"

Jo dropped her volume level, "Run a pregnancy test on this Jane Doe."

He nodded absently and pulled the vial closer to read the label."

Jo nervously tapped her foot, "How long?"

"At least a half hour," Ryan said, looking up, "Come back then."

* * *

Jo was back at the lab window in 28 minutes.

"Well?" She asked, feeling her stomach do flips.

"Sister and cousin aren't a match, but the daughter is," he replied, pulling Jo's paperwork.

Jo did a double take, "Daughter? I didn't...there was no blood from the daughter."

"Yeah there was," Ryan frowned at her, "And she's a blood match."

Jo leaned over the counter and snatched the paperwork away. Her eyes flew over the paper, heart sinking as she read.

"Oh my god," she whispered, sinking to the floor, one hand covering her mouth.

She wasn't pregnant, but she had found her mother.

* * *

 _A/N: Hello Jolex fandom! This is the beginning of a lovely prompt form living-in-your-own-fantasy on Tumblr. It's a little different from the original prompt, which was "Jo's mother (or father) finds out who she is and confronts her at the hospital and of course Alex is there"but I hope it's just as good!_

 _There's definitely going to be at least one other chapter, but possible two more. I have to see how the next chapter goes._

 _Please, please drop me a review and let me know what you think. I'm still relatively new to writing Jo and Alex and the Grey Sloan family, so I want to make sure I'm doing right by them :)_

 _As always, my inboxes here and on Tumblr are open to prompts and general show related merriment!_


	2. Chapter 2

Jo found Alex running around Peds.

"Alex," she choked on her words and he didn't hear her. Jo took a deep breath and darted after him.

"Alex!" She called his name louder and this time her turned.

"Hey," he spared her a quick lopsided grin, "I'm kinda busy. Can this wait?"

He held up his hands, which were full of clipboards, to show exactly how busy he was.

Jo shook her head, "I don't think it can."

The lab work papers were crumbled in her hand.

Alex grunted and said, "Okay, just? Can you talk and follow me?"

He strode off before Jo could answer. She followed him quickly, though.

Alex rubbed a hand over her face as he flipped through the papers in front of him. He looked tired and stressed and Jo felt bad for unloading her newfound information on him. But, damn she really needed to tell someone.

"Do you remember my patient?" She asked quickly, clarifying when he looked up long enough to shoot her an exasperated glare, "The one with the mysterious third kid?"

Alex nodded absently, scratching at his temple with the end of his pen.

Jo chewed at the inside of her cheek and burst out, "I'm the mysterious third kid!"

Alex did a double take and startled so fast he knocked the clipboards to the ground.

"WHAT?" He exclaimed, looking as if he had been cold-cocked in the face.

Jo's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she nodded wildly, "She's my mother! Alex, oh my god."

Alex shook his head and a sly grin spread across his face, "Good one, Wilson. I appreciate the prank, but I don't have time for this."

Jo looked stunned.

"Alex," she frowned, slamming the lab results on the counter, "I'm not kidding. She's my mother."

Alex jumped when she slammed the papers on the counter and now he snatched them away from her with a sideways look. He scanned them and Jo could pinpoint the moment when he hit the analysis of "Jane Doe's" blood.

"Who's Jane Doe?" He asked, a crease forming in between his eyebrows.

Jo scuffed the toe of one of her sneakers against the floor, "Me. But that's not the point."

"Why are you running your blood as a Jane Doe?" He asked, looking more and more confused, "Why are you running your blood at all?"

"I thought I might be pregnant," Jo said flippantly, "But I'm not, so that doesn't matter. What matters is that Elizabeth Monroe is my birth mother."

"Wait? You thought you were pregnant?" Alex shook his head, trying to keep up. Half of what Jo was saying was getting lost as he focused on her first sentence.

Jo was getting frustrated, "Alex! That's not the point. What do I do? I can't go back and face her. Not when I know what I know!"

She felt frustrated tears form and Jo angrily crossed her arms, pinching her sides a little so she wouldn't cry.

"Shit, you found your mom," Alex repeated, a little bit dazed as Jo's bombshell finally sunk in.

Jo nodded, her eyes wide and full of tears.

"Oh shit," Alex stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

"It's okay. We'll figure it out," he muttered.

"I can't go back up there, Alex," she said into his chest, shaking her head.

"I'll call Torres," he offered.

Jo pulled back and shook her head, "No! I can't...I don't want anyone to know."

Alex rolled his eyes, "Then you're gonna have to go back up there."

"Oh god," Jo moaned, "How am I supposed to look at this woman, knowing she gave me up?"

Alex didn't have a chance to respond before Jo got angry, "She gave me up! And now she has two kids and a husband. And I felt sorry for potentially breaking up a family. I'm so stupid."

Alex gripped her upper arms and looked down into her eyes, "Hey, you are *not* stupid. You were blindsided. Look, I'll go up there for you. You don't have to do this."

"You're sweet," Jo said with a small smile, "But I think I should probably go up and face her myself."

He nodded, "I'm a page away if you need moral support."

"I know," Jo said in a small voice, offering Alex a tiny smile, "Can we maybe break open the tequila Meredith gave you for your birthday when we get home? I have a feeling I'm going to need it."

Alex laughed, "Whatever you want."

He kissed the top of her head, "You'll be fine. Remember, I love you and I'm not going anywhere, no matter what."

Jo nodded, feeling a lump form in her throat. She squeezed Alex's hand one last time before heading back down to Ortho.

* * *

Callie was already in the room when Jo got there.

She looked up from Elizabeth's chart, eyes narrowed, "Jo? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Jo winced. Callie rarely called her 'Jo' while they were working. It was usually 'Wilson' or some nickname or other.

She nodded and trailed after Callie into the hallway.

"Where have you been?" Callie snapped, "I've been waiting here for twenty minutes and I must've paged you a dozen times."

Jo unclipped her pager from her waistband and checked the display as she spoke, "I'm so sorry, Callie. I didn't even feel it. I was up..."

She cut herself off. If she had said she was in Peds with Alex, Callie might think she had snuck away for a make-out session.

"Fine, whatever," Callie shook her head, "Did you get the lab work? Are the family members a match? Can we start surgery?"

Jo flinched as Callie said 'family members' because now that was her aunt in the room with her mother.

Callie noticed Jo's reaction and frowned, "Wilson? What's the matter?"

Jo shook her head quickly, "Nothing. Sorry. Um, are we starting?"

"No," Callie looked at her strangely, "We need to take blood from the sister or cousin. Are they viable?"

"No," Jo shook her head, "Neither one is a match."

Callie groaned, "Okay, well we're just going to have to make sure the blood bank doesn't use it all before we're done."

She headed back into the room and Jo trailed her anxiously.

"Okay, Mrs. Monroe," Callie said, resting her hands on the rail at the foot of the bed, "We're going to contact the blood bank and make sure they have enough blood. If they do, we're going to take you into surgery within the hour."

"Okay," Elizabeth sighed, face pinched in pain, "The faster the better."

Jo openly stated at her, trying to find herself in the older woman's features.

Maybe the nose a bit. Or the chin.

Jo felt tears in her eyes again. But they were angry this time.

This woman had given her up.

Jo bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting.

Callie hung up the in room phone, "Okay, we have enough blood. We're going to take you now."

Jo moved automatically to grip the left hand rail to wheel the bed from the room.

Elizabeth reached out to grab her wrist. Jo's eyes widened.

Her mother was holding her arm.

"Can you please keep Lyla and Andy updated?" She whispered, "I think they're a little scared."

Lyla and Andy.

Her half-siblings.

Jo nodded mechanically, "Of course. Someone will make sure they know exactly what's going on with you. But, uh, like I said, it's routine. You'll be fine."

You have to be, Jo thought. I need answers.

* * *

She and Callie took their time with the surgery, but it was still over in less than four hours.

By the time the nurses rolled Elizabeth into recovery, Jo had been working for 30 hours straight.

She was exhausted and hungry and angry.

She slumped against the wall outside OR 2 and systematically clenched and unclenched her fists. There was a lot happening in such a short amount of time, Jo barely knew how to process it all.

At 28 years old, her mother finally came back into the picture. But, jokes on you Jo, she thought, your mom doesn't even know who you are.

A pair of sneakers suddenly came into view and before she knew it, Alex was squatting in front of her.

"Hey, princess," he said, holding a box of doughnuts in his hand, "How're you holding up?"

Jo looked up at him tiredly, "Are those powdered sugar?"

"Yeah," Alex nodded, "Figured you'd need the good stuff."

He stood up and held his hand out to pull her up. Jo let her momentum carry her into his chest. She stayed there for a few minutes, just holding onto Alex, onto the only thing she was sure of at that moment.

"Did you talk to her?" Alex asked a few minutes later, around a mouthful of fried dough and powdered sugar.

Jo shook her head, her own lips covered in the white powder, "How could I? Right before she went into surgery? And with Torres right there."

Alex hugged her with one arm, "I get it. Look, you don't have to talk to her right now. But, you should talk to her before she leaves here."

Jo nodded, "I know. I know. I just...what do I say?"

Alex shrugged helplessly, "'Hi mom, it's me. The kid you let at the fire station.'"

"Not helping," Jo groaned, "Can we just go home? I'm drained."

Alex polished off his doughnut and brushed his fingers on his pants, leaving white streaks on the navy fabric, "Yeah. Let's go. I need to sleep for like twelve hours anyway."

* * *

Elizabeth was discharged to her husband's care five days after her surgery.

Jo cautiously entered the woman's -her mom's! - room the morning she was supposed to be discharged.

"Hi," she said quietly, but politely, "How're you feeling?"

Jo maintained her distance.

"Much better," Elizabeth smiled, "The painkillers are really doing their job."

"That's good," Jo nodded, fiddling with her pager, "I...um...before you left, I wanted to -"

The appearance of Elizabeth's husband, Michael, stopped Jo in her tracks.

"You ready to go, honey?" He asked, pushing a wheelchair in front of him, "All your papers are ready."

She nodded, still looking at Jo though.

"Mike, could you just give me a minute? I need to ask Dr. Wilson a few questions about my painkillers," Elizabeth said, and Jo felt her stomach do a flip.

Mike Monroe looked quickly between his wife and her doctor, nodded, and stepped out of the room.

"So what can I tell you about your painkillers?" Jo asked quickly.

Elizabeth frowned, "I don't have questions about my medicine. But you clearly want to say something to me. So, go ahead."

Jo's mouth gaped a little. Elizabeth smiled at her.

"Um, well, the thing is," Jo stammered - God, she was out of her element here - "My blood accidentally got run against yours and I'm your daughter."

Elizabeth's face went white and her eyes popped open in shock. Jo was sure her skin was white as a sheet.

"What?" The other woman whispered, "You're -?"

Jo chewed at the inside of her cheek, "Yeah. I'm your daughter."

"Oh my god," Elizabeth covered her mouth with her good hand, "Oh my god!"

Jo shuffled her feet a little, uncomfortable.

"I...you're so beautiful," Elizabeth finally said, "I knew your eyes were familiar. They're just like -"

She cut herself off.

Jo finished her sentence, "Like my father's?"

Elizabeth nodded, eyes brimming with tears, "You must have so many questions."

"Damn right," Jo snapped a little.

"If I give you my cell phone number," Elizabeth started, seeing her husband start to come closer to the room, "Will you call me? We can get lunch or coffee and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Jo wanted to say no. She wanted to not like the woman in front of her. She wanted to demand answers right here and now.

But, she felt herself nod, "I'll think about it."

"I understand," Elizabeth said, rattling off her phone number so Jo could jot it down.

Mike Monroe appeared in the hospital room before Jo could say anything else.

"Ready?" He frowned at the sight of his wife's tears, but didn't say anything.

Elizabeth, eyes still locked on Jo, nodded, "I think so."

Jo helped Mike get Elizabeth into the wheelchair and tried to ignore the soft squeeze that Elizabeth gave her forearm.

"Thank you very much, Dr. Wilson," Elizabeth whispered, fighting her own urge to cup Jo's chin in her hand.

Jo nodded, "Feel better."

She managed to stay upright until her mother was out of sight. But soon enough, Jo's knees gave out and she crumpled to sit on the bed.

"Oh my god," she mumbled to herself, feeling completely overwhelmed by the range of emotions.

Her breathing started to get shallow and her chest grew tight.

The beginning signs of a panic attack.

Jo fumbled for the pager at her waist. She managed, with shaky fingers, to type a 9-1-1 call to Alex before she dropped the device.

He rushed into the room to find Jo's arms wrapped around her stomach and her breathing quickened.

"Hey," he grabbed her shoulders and looked at her face, "Hey, Jo, breathe with me okay?"

He exaggerated his breathing until Jo mimicked him.

Once she was calmed down, he held her cheeks in his hands, "What's the matter?"

"I told her," Jo muttered.

Alex raised his eyebrows, "That's good though."

One look at Jo's miserable face and he asked, "Isn't it?"

Jo shrugged, "Yes. No. I don't know. She said I was beautiful."

"At least we know her eyesight is good," Alex tried to joke, but apologized quickly when Jo glared at him.

"She...she said I have my father's eyes," Jo admitted, bringing one hand up so she could hold onto Alex's hand.

Alex knew that Jo wasn't finished talking, so he held his tongue.

"She gave me her cell phone number. She said I could call her and she'll tell me everything I want to know."

"Isn't that what you want?" Alex asked.

"Alex, she's so...so normal!" Jo exclaimed, "For all these years I thought there was something wrong with her to give up a baby. But, what if it's me? What if she saw something in me and she just wanted me gone?"

Alex squeezed Jo's hands, "First of all, there's nothing wrong with you. Except for maybe the fact that you love me."

That got a small smile from Jo.

"Besides," Alex continued, "I looked at her file. She had you at 16. That's probably the reason for giving you up."

Logically, Jo knew that.

"Alex?" She sighed, her shoulders slumping, "I'm so scared to meet her and find out about myself."

"I know," he pulled her to her feet, "But you'll regret it if you don't meet with her."

"I know," Jo leaned into his side.

She was quiet for the rest of her rounds and through her's and Alex's late dinner, Elizabeth's phone number burning a hole in her pocket all the while.

* * *

 _A/N: So! Jo's mom knows who she is. Alex is being super supportive and I love writing this story. Next chapter will be Jo and her mom talking and you'll get, basically, my headcanon as to why Jo was given up._

 _I have an idea for another story, involving Jo meeting her dad. I'm not sure if that'll be more chapters on this story, or it's own story. Probably the former._

 _So, please, please, please drop me a review and let me know what you think. Im always open to prompts and general merriment! Happy Grey's Day!_


	3. Chapter 3

"Will you come with me?" Jo leaned against the bathroom doorframe, watching Alex shave.

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes and mumbled, "Yeah, I was planning on it anyway."

He moved the razor away from his face and grinned, "Besides, I want to meet the woman that gave Jo Wilson, Hulk princess extraordinaire to the world."

A nervous smile formed on Jo's face and she scratched the back of her neck, "I...um. I didn't mean come inside with me. I don't actually want you in the house."

Alex frowned.

Jo continued, "Could you just maybe wait outside the house? In case I need to make a quick escape?"

"Yeah, I think I can do that," he said, "You'll be fine, you know."

"I guess," Jo shrugged, "I'll feel better knowing you're outside."

"I'll wait as long as you need me to," her boyfriend grinned, leaning forward and wiping his shaving cream covered cheeks against hers.

Jo squealed, "Alex!"

"Yes?" He blinked at her, faux-innocently.

She wiped the foam from her cheeks and gave him a genuine smile, "Thank you for being so understanding."

"Yeah, well, I'm too good. You don't deserve me," Alex deadpanned and then winked, reaching for his razor so he could finish shaving.

Jo wiped the shaving cream on the towel that was knotted around Alex's waist and went back into their bedroom to get dressed.

* * *

Jo stood on the porch of the Monroe home and looked back at the car where Alex was waiting.

He rolled down the window and shouted, "Knock on the damn door, Jo!"

She frowned nervously, "Shut up, Alex!"

He raised an eyebrow and stuck his tongue out at her.

Jo turned towards the door and knocked hesitantly.

The door swung open seconds later, as if the person behind the door had been watching Jo from the window.

Jo's eyes widened with surprise and she stammered, "Hi, um, I'm Jo. Jo Wilson?"

The woman at the door was older and she squinted at Jo.

Jo was beginning to feel uncomfortable when the woman gave a half smile and said, "Of course you are. You have Lizzie's nose. I'm Emily."

She stepped back and gestured Jo inside, catching sight of Alex waiting in the car.

"Is he with you?" She asked.

Jo startled and when she realized the other woman was talking about Alex, she nodded, "Yes, um, he's my boyfriend."

"Does he want to come in?" Emily chuckled a little.

Jo shook her head, "Oh no. He's going to wait outside. I...I wanted to do this by myself."

Emily's eyes softened a little and she hesitantly reached out to pat Jo's forearm.

"Well," she said, "I'm glad you came. I couldn't believe Lizzie when she called to tell me that, well, that you found each other."

Jo suddenly realized that this woman was probably Elizabeth's mother. Making her Jo's grandmother.

Jo faltered.

A grandmother.

She had a grandmother. And maybe a grandfather.

She had a mother. And a father somewhere. And half-siblings.

Nausea churned her stomach.

"I..." She stammered, "I have to...I can't..."

Suddenly, another voice broke through Jo's thoughts, "Mom! Stop bothering Jo. Please let me talk to her."

Emily sighed and rolled her eyes, "Come on, dear. Lizzie's stuck on the couch, so follow me. She's being entirely unreasonable about having to stay still. She's a little grouchy."

Jo followed Emily - her grandmother! - into the living room. She couldn't help but notice that the house was decorated with a lot of fancy, well, stuff. But it was also kind of cozy and there were a ton of family photos everywhere.

Jo caught sight of one of the family of four at Disneyland and felt a stab of jealousy in her chest.

She swallowed heavily, silently vowing that she would not be upset about anything she heard.

"Hi, Jo," Elizabeth waved from her spot on the couch and then glared at her mother, "And I'm not grouchy. You'd go stir crazy too if you were stuck in one position all day."

Jo frowned at the casual way Elizabeth said her name and how she had snapped at Emily, but greeted her anyway, "Um, hi. How's your hip?"

"It's feeling better," Elizabeth nodded, "I had a check up with Dr. Torres last week."

She trailed off a little, the implied 'I thought you would be there' hanging heavily in the air.

Jo fiddled with the ring around her index finger, a gift from Alex for her birthday last week.

"I don't want to be rude," she started slowly, "But, I just want to know why you gave me up. I don't...I'm not here for small talk."

Elizabeth's smile fell, but she nodded, "I...okay. Have a seat, Jo. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Emily hovered by the entryway to the living room as Jo sat cautiously on the edge of an armchair.

"Where should I start?" Elizabeth wondered out loud, casting a quick glance at her mother. Emily was frowning.

"The beginning?" Jo whispered.

"Well," Elizabeth frowned, "I was 16 when you were born, as I'm sure you figured out."

Jo nodded.

"I kept it a secret, kept you a secret, right up until I went into labor," Elizabeth shifted on the couch, "My parents," she glanced over at Emily who was biting at her lower lip, "Well. They weren't happy, to say the least."

"You were a gorgeous baby," Emily cut in absently, gazing at Jo as if seeing her for the first time.

Jo looked over at her, a little shocked.

But she didn't have time to dwell on Emily's words since Elizabeth became to talk again.

"I kept you with me for two weeks, she said, "And then -"

"We wanted to keep you," Emily said slowly, cutting Elizabeth off mid-sentence, "But Lizzie snuck you away in the middle of the night."

Jo's mouth fell open, "What?!"

She could have been raised in a normal family? With parents who cared about her?

Elizabeth groaned, "Mom, you know that I was never going to let that happen. If I wasn't going to raise Jo, you and Dad definitely weren't."

"WHAT?" Jo jumped up from the chair, the implication of Emily's and Elizabeth's words finally hitting her, "You gave me up as opposed to let me be raised by two parents? My childhood sucked."

Ignoring the other two women's attempts to speak, Jo fought against tears, "I was in foster homes for 16 years and then I lived in my CAR. I worked my ass off to get into Princeton and Harvard Med. I'm still paying off my loans."

Elizabeth and Emily gaped a little at Jo's outburst.

"Jo," Elizabeth said quietly, "I never...I thought giving you up would be the best thing for you. I was raised in a very...frustrating environment. Debutante balls and fancy dinners and private schools. It was suffocating. I didn't want you raised like that."

"Forgive me if I don't feel so bad for you," Jo snapped.

"I am sorry, Jo," her mother sighed, "I was young and stupid and I had no business raising you. But I also thought that someone out there would adopt you."

Emily muttered, "Obviously you were wrong," under her breath.

Jo looked up at the elegant woman and cracked her first genuine smile since that morning with Alex. It was small, but real.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and snapped, "Mom! Leave! You're messing up my story!" sounding more like a petulant child and less like a grown woman.

"What if you forget the story, Lizzie?" Emily said, faux-innocently, winking at Jo.

"I lived it," Elizabeth snapped, "I won't forget."

In her pocket, Jo's phone buzzed. She checked it and found a message from Alex.

\- doing okay? do I have to come and rescue you from all the fancy crap? -

The corner of her lips tilted up and she tapped out a fast response.

While she texted, Elizabeth and Emily had started bickering.

"Hey!" Jo raised her voice to be heard, "Look, I appreciate all of this information. But, uh, I have one more question."

Elizabeth looked over at Jo, waiting.

"What's my father's name?"

* * *

"SENATOR CHRISTOPHER WILSON ?" Alex exclaimed as they walked into Grey Sloan an hour later.

Jo pinched his side, "Shut up! I don't want the whole world to know."

"Sorry," Alex said, "But, dude, your dad is the Washington senator."

"I know," Jo frowned, "and he doesn't even KNOW I exist."

Alex rubbed at his chin, "Say what you will about Jimmy, but at least he was vaguely aware of my existence."

Jo's shoulders slumped, "Alex, I actually have a real family out there."

Alex was uncharacteristically quiet. He knew all about real families and if Jo's father didn't know about her and was a senator, there was a good chance it wouldn't go well.

"Should I meet him?" She wondered, looking at Alex for advice, "Meeting Elizabeth and Emily was...weird."

Alex frowned as he thought about the weird pale gray tinge Jo's face had been when she eventually came out of the Monroe's home.

"But at least you have the story now," he said, leading Jo down the hallway.

"Yeah..." Jo trailed off absently, "I just..."

She turned to face Alex and his heart dropped at how *sad* she looked.

"I thought I'd feel...different after I met my mom. More...complete?" she sighed, "You know?"

Alex's eyes softened sympathetically, "Yeah, Jo. I know. I'm -"

"Wilson!" Meredith's sharp voice sliced through Alex's words. Both Jo and Alex turned to look at her.

"You were supposed to be here at 2:30 for Mr. Chambers' surgery," she snapped, "It's almost 4 now."

Jo's eyes had widened and Alex could see that her mouth was twisting in as she tried to hold in her emotions.

He stepped in front of her, blocked her from Meredith's line of sight, "Hey," he growled, "Don't snap at her. We're late. Get over it."

From behind him, Jo rested her hand lightly on Alex's lower back, cheeks turning pink as he defended her to Meredith. They'd had a big blowout fight a few months ago and Alex's attitude had changed, but Jo never got tired of seeing him actually defend her in person.

Meredith raised an eyebrow, "Alex?"

"Yeah, I said it," he said, "If we're late, we have a good reason. She's here now and I'm sure you found someone else to cover the surgery."

Meredith frowned, but said, "Fine. But don't let it happen again, Wilson. You have responsibilities."

Alex rolled his eyes, "Mer, chill out. Okay?"

She huffed a sigh and nodded as she headed off.

Alex turned to face Jo and smiled a little.

"Thank you, Alex," she said quietly.

"You're my number one, right?" He said, trying for nonchalant, but failing a little. Jo caught the nerves behind his eyes. He had been trying so hard to balance his friendship and his relationship. Jo knew he was insecure, but he really had stepped up after their fight.

"Yeah," Jo nodded, smiling happily back at Alex.

He took her hand and they walked down to the attending lounge together in comfortable silence.

* * *

"Do you think I should reach out to...to well, you know?" Jo asked Alex a few hours later as they stood in an OR.

Alex frowned behind his facemask and took the proffered scalpel. As he cut into the patient, he said, "I thought you didn't want to talk about this here?"

Jo shrugged as she worked on the young boy's broken leg, "I didn't. I don't. But I'm so damn confused and conflicted."

"So meet the guy," Alex said, "It might help you learn more."

"I guess," Jo stitched up the skin on the leg, "Did I tell you that Christopher and Elizabeth were prom king and queen their respective senior years?"

She snorted, "Completely different from my high school experience."

Alex's hands went still and his eyes went wide.

"No fucking way," he blurted, grinning like a fool behind his mask.

"Yeah," Jo sighed, "Apparently my...uh...well they're pretty rich and she was popular in school."

"Who cares about that," Alex cackled loudly, "If they were prom king and queen, that means you really are a princess!"

* * *

 _A/N: The conclusion to Jo meeting her biological mom! And we find out something about Jo's dad. I think I'll be doing a follow-up about her actually meeting her dad. Look for that in a week or so._

 _Happy Fall Finale Day everyone and let's hope Shonda doesn't blow up the ship. :)_

 _Drop me a review and let me know what you think. :)_


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